Merry Christmas From Chen's Island!
by CheezPretzel
Summary: It's Christmastime on Chen's island! Skylor climbs a palm tree, Clouse is extremely grumpy, and Chen hasn't been paying attention to anyone. A Christmas-centered Oneshot that takes place before Season 4. Slight Kailor at the end.


**Merry Christmas From Chen's Island!**

**A/N: If you're wondering why the majority of this story takes place in 2006, it's entirely dependant on the fact that The Tournament Of Elements took place in early 2015. That should clear up some of the confusion. Also, if you're wondering who Anthony and Daniel are, they're actually Kapau and Chope, but I have a headcanon that they changed their names every other week or so, in which case, they haven't decided to call themselves Kapau and Chope yet. **

**December 1st, 2006**

Clouse hadn't always hated Christmas this much.

In fact, before the war, it had been one of his favorite holidays. The beautiful, shiny lights, the ornaments on a tree, the wonderful excitement that cracked along the air like lightning. Back on the mainland, Chen would decorate the monastery with brilliant lights and evergreen wreaths, and they would even set up a massive pine tree in the courtyard, under which presents would be placed.

It was also one of the few days of the year when that attention-stealing _Garmadon_ wasn't around since he would rather spend the holidays with his brother and wife, and Clouse could have Chen's undivided attention for almost a whole _month_.

That all changed after the war, when he and his master had been banished to the island, where there was no snow, no pine trees, and everything was hot and sticky and absolutely _miserable _all the time.

And then there was Chen's daughter, Skylor, who Clouse despised, not because she was a spoiled brat or anything, but because he was almost positive that Chen secretly gave her more attention than him.

And also because the now nine-year-old was _climbing_ the Christmas tree.

They had started using palm trees rather than evergreens because it just so happened that palm trees were easier to find on a tropical island than evergreens (shocker, I know). Earlier today, a group of Chen's foot soldiers had hauled in the potted palm that usually rested in the back corner of the garden, so it could be decorated.

Kabuki servants had strung up the whole tree with colored lights and a few of them were draping paper chains across the tree's leaves. Boxes of ornaments were scattered across the floor, making trying to cross the throne room without shattering a glass ornament nearly impossible.

Then there was Skylor, Daniel and Anthony. Skylor had turned nine, just back in September, and Anthony and Daniel were eight.

Well, at least Clouse knew that those two were Anthony and Daniel. Although the last time he had spoken to either of the twins, they had insisted that he call them 'Batman' and 'Robin', which isn't unusual, considering that they changed their names practically every other _week_.

Skylor was holding the gold-plated anacondrai angel in her teeth while she hugged the base of the palm tree. She focused for a moment, and then leapt up part of the tree, grabbing on again and holding tight to the trunk of the tree.

Anthony and Daniel watched her from the floor.

"You're gonna fall!" Daniel (or was it Anthony?) Shouted.

Skylor glared at him, but, since she had the angel in her mouth, she couldn't send back a retort. Instead, she tensed up and scrambled up another three feet of the trunk.

"We're gonna have to call Master Chen to get you down!" The other twin added.

Skylor bounded up gracefully, and swung easily through the tightly-growing branches of the palm tree, before scrambling up to the top. Then, holding tightly to the tree, she pulled the angel from her mouth and wiped it off using her sleeve, before gently setting it on the top of the tree.

She turned to look down at Daniel and Anthony and grinned. "SEE!" She shouted. "TOLD YOU SO!"

Skylor scrambled down the tree to where a very, very annoyed Clouse was waiting at the bottom. He scowled at her angrily, but before he could do anything, she grinned up at him.

"Clousey, Andy and Danny said that I couldn't put the angel up by myself, but I did, did you see!?" She exclaimed excitedly.

"It's Han and Chewie!" Daniel shouted angrily. It appeared the two had gone through another name change since Clouse had last spoken to them.

"What were you _thinking_!?" Clouse almost shouted. "You could've _fallen and died_!"

Skylor shrugged. "So?"

"SO!?" Clouse shouted. "That doesn't concern you at all?!"

"No," Skylor answered. "Should it?"

Clouse sighed, defeated. Arguing with Skylor was pointless. He turned and stormed out of the room. Let the kid get herself killed for all he cared. Then there would be more attention from Chen for _him_.

Clouse froze, however, thinking about how Chen might react if his daughter died. Would he blame Clouse? Would he think it was Clouse's fault? What if he banished Clouse from the island? Where would he go then? Back to Ninjago? He had been banished from there, though.

Clouse sighed, and turned around, just in time to see the Christmas palm tree, which was being scaled by Skylor, Anthony, and Daniel at the same time, fall over with a crash.

"SKYLOR!"

**December 12th, 2006**

"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock," The CD player played softly, as Clouse looked over at Skylor, Anthony, and Daniel, who were all sitting on the floor of the Throne Room. All three were surrounded by crayons, markers, and colored pencils, as well as enough construction paper to keep a recycling company in business for years.

The three were writing letters to Santa, or at least, that's what they were supposed to be doing. Rather, they appeared to be making a paper mache scale-model of a reindeer.

"Uncle Clouse!" Skylor shouted. "Will you come over here?"

Clouse had gotten roped into babysitting Skylor and her two friends, partially because, since it was the holidays, the staff were all busy doing about a million other things. A group of twenty cultists alone were all on the mainland, shopping for presents and food, and a lot of the staff was still tied up in decorating the rest of the palace. However, the real reason Clouse agreed to watch Skylor was that Chen had asked him. Clouse would follow Chen to the end of the earth if he had to.

With a sigh, Clouse walked over to Skylor, who was holding what appeared to be an origami leg for the reindeer.

"Will you hold this for me?" She asked, pushing the leg into his arms before he could respond, and then grabbed another piece of tape and stuck down part of the reindeer's chest, which was falling off.

"Thanks!" She grabbed back the leg and fastened it neatly underneath the reindeer's bulky body. "There!" She, Anthony, and Daniel stepped back to admire their handiwork.

The whole thing collapsed under its own weight, and Daniel (or was it Anthony?) fell over in a fit of giggles.

Skylor stared at the collapsed structure, which had come to resemble more of a lopsided duck then a majestic reindeer.

Clouse rolled his eyes. He was a powerful magician, and here he was, watching children do terrible origami.

He looked down at Skylor, who was forlornly trying to fix her paper creation. "Did you write your letters to Santa yet?" He addressed the three kids.

"Yeah," Skylor muttered in a 'duh, you should know that' voice. "It's over there." She pointed to a corner of the floor that was bare, save three folded up pieces of paper.

Clouse left the kids to their reindeer and picked up the three letters. He would have to read them later and tell the cultists on the mainland what to buy for the three.

He glanced back at the three kids, who were having a paper fight. If he was sneaky enough now, he could probably get away with reading the letters.

Anthony and Daniel's were almost identical. Both wanted the same _LEGO Star Wars_ video game, and, of course, they wanted their Anacondrai Tattoos. They had asked for that every day since they were five.

Skylor's letter was a little different, however.

_Dear Santa, _

_I've been really, really good this year, and I only want one thing, so if you could make that happen, I would really like it._

_This year, I want my dad to spend some time with me. Like all the time that he spends with Clouse, and I don't want him to keep making me fight all his generals, because I think my abilities might hurt them._

_Love,_

_Skylor_

If he had a soul, Clouse would have cried. The letter was so heartfelt. Poor little Skylor wanted her dad's attention for Christmas.

Clouse crushed the letter with a growl.

Chen couldn't see this. If he did, of course, then he'd probably give Skylor all the attention that she wanted, and there'd be nothing left for Clouse. Little did Clouse realize, Chen would sometimes parade his daughter around the cult, showing her off to everyone, but the second they were alone, he treated her as if she was nothing more than a pretty jacket he could take off, and not a person with thoughts and feelings and emotions.

Clouse glared back at Skylor, Anthony and Daniel, who were all immersed in their paper fight.

No.

There was no way Clouse would let this letter fall into Chen's hands. Skylor would not receive her father's attention this Christmas. She would receive something else. A princess dress, perhaps, or a new crossbow, or, well, anything but this.

As soon as he got the chance, Clouse would burn Skylor's letter and bury the ashes out in the jungle, where no one would find them.

After all, if there was only so much of Chen's attention and love to go around, then Clouse, of course, deserved more of it.

Didn't he?

**December 21st, 2006**

The last straw was when Skylor, Anthony, and Daniel had decided to dress up Clouse's pet snake for Christmas.

His beautiful pet was covered in tinsel and wearing reindeer horns and a light-up Rudolph nose, the kind that you'd put on a car.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?" Clouse roared at Skylor, behind whom Anthony and Daniel were hiding.

Skylor shrugged. "Don't worry, Fluffy likes it!"

The snake hissed in response, and Clouse couldn't tell if his pet was agreeing or disagreeing with Skylor's statement. He hoped it was disagreement.

"His name is _not_ Fluffy!" Clouse insisted. "And he does _not_ like it!"

"I think he does," Skylor laughed as the snake rubbed against Clouse. Clouse could tell that the snake was trying to get the red Rudolph nose off. Poor big guy.

Clouse bit back a sharp retort, trying not to shout at Skylor, before he stared at her angrily. "Go see if any of the Kabuki need help with the decorations."

"But-" Skylor protested.

"I said _go_!" Clouse snapped, and Skylor heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes before she, Daniel and Anthony all ran off.

"That child," Clouse grumbled. "If Chen doesn't discipline her soon, I'm going to!"

His snake hissed, and Clouse turned his attention to the large purple reptile, gently pulling the Rudolph nose off, and moving to the back of his pet's head, he removed the reindeer horns.

The snake hissed, eyes half-lidded, obviously very pleased with all the attention he was getting from his master.

_Wish I could say the same,_ Clouse grumbled silently, moving to remove the tinsel that was wrapped around the large snake. _If only Master Chen would give me more attention, then these things wouldn't happen anymore!_

He finished pulling the Christmas decorations off his pet and walked the massive snake to the wall, where Clouse knew that he would be safe, napping in the dark.

Adjusting the Santa Hat that Chen had made a mandatory part of uniforms, he headed upstairs, deciding to try and find his master before Skylor destroyed anything else.

He checked Chen's bedroom, which was empty. Then the kitchens, which were full of Kabuki, but not Chen.

Clouse walked out onto one of the palace balconies and finally, _finally_, found Chen.

"Good, Skylor," Chen nodded, as he watched his daughter battle one of his main generals, who was much bigger than she was. Somehow, however, the nine-year-old had the upper hand.

_Probably because she has Elemental Abilities,_ Clouse thought bitterly, as he hopped off the balcony and into the shaded courtyard below.

Had they been back on the mainland, the air would have been wonderfully chilly, and snow would have been falling from the sky. Unfortunately for Clouse, however, the island was just as miserably hot and sticky as ever.

He approached Chen quietly, who was watching the fight with an amused expression. Skylor was trying to put the general in a headlock (she was failing, because Skylor's arms were far too short to even properly wrap around the Christmas Palm Tree from earlier, much less this general's meaty neck).

"Oh, hello Clouse!" Chen greeted his second-in-command. "You're just in time for Skylor's 'special training'!"

Clouse sighed. "Master, may I speak with you? Alone?"

Chen looked up, obviously irritated. "About what?" He looked back at his daughter and general, who the former happened to be sitting on. "Good job, Skylor! Make him CRY!"

Clouse rolled his eyes. "Master, don't you think that Skylor should be more disciplined?"

"What?" Chen raised an eyebrow at Clouse. "Why would we do that?"

"She dressed up _my_ serpent!" Clouse exclaimed, beginning to lose patience with his master. "And she knocked over the Christmas tree! Can't you do _something_?"

It was Chen's turn to roll his eyes. "Let her have her fun, Clouse. She's not going to be nine forever."

"I know that, Master," Clouse sighed. "But, if you don't discipline her now, who's to say she'll even obey you later!"

Chen chuckled. "She wouldn't think of it. You worry too much, Clouse."

Skylor punched the general, and he cried out in a mixture of pain from the punch, and fury for not being able to defeat an elemental child.

Chen sighed. "That's enough, I'm bored. Break them up, will you Clouse?"

Clouse grumbled something obscene under his breath, but leapt forward and grabbed Skylor easily. He moved her away from the general, who was picking up both himself and his dignity.

"Thank you, Eyezor," Chen nodded to his general, who muttered something before heading back inside the palace.

"Skylor," Chen addressed his daughter.

"Yes, father?" She answered obediently.

"You wouldn't _betray_ me, would you?" Chen asked, his voice almost accusative.

Skylor looked up at him, shocked. "No, father. I will _never_ betray you!" **(A/N: The irony.)**

"See," Chen said to Clouse. "We have nothing to worry about."

Clouse sighed anyway. "Alright, master. Of course."

However, Clouse wasn't entirely convinced, especially when he saw Skylor's expression later. The kind of expression that very clearly stated that she had never thought of betraying her father before, and Chen telling her not to do that had put the idea in her head.

Clouse rolled his eyes. Chen was right. He worried too much. Skylor would never betray them… or would she?

**December 25th, 2006**

Finally, it was Christmas morning.

Which of course, meant that Skylor, Daniel and Anthony woke everyone up at Five A.M. The previous night had been filled with a feast, then a massive party (Chen loved parties), then, after Skylor's Kabuki nursemaid had taken her upstairs and Daniel and Antony had been sent off to bed, the more 'adult' festivities began, with dancing, singing, and of course, unholy amounts of alcohol. The party had lasted late into the night, and Clouse had barely gotten two hours of sleep.

This meant that all the adults were exhausted and hungover, but it also meant that the three children on the island were well-rested and ready to open presents at five in the morning.

Chen made them wait until eight before he finally dragged everyone out of bed for some hangover-curing tomato juice, and of course, to open presents.

Bright sunshine came in through a window and lit the throne room with its dazzling light. Underneath the tree, presents were piled up in a miniature mountain. A couple of Kabuki were already there, looking at the names on the gift tags and passing them out.

There were regular presents, like new clothes, weapons, and armor, but there were also a ton of joke presents. Someone had given Chen a two-foot-long rubber chicken, and someone else had given Clouse a moving box filled with nothing but ping-pong balls. When he looked up, he could see that Anthony (or was it Daniel?) was running around with a fake turd, and Daniel (or was it Anthony?) had an entire bucket of Floam, which he was grinding into the carpet.

A Kabuki servant handed Skylor a small box with her name on it, and when she opened it, it was revealed to contain a bright orange Ninja-style gi, with the Elemental Symbol of Amber embroidered on the hood.

Clouse could tell that the gi probably wouldn't fit her, at least, not for another few years or so, but she would grow into it. It had been her mother's, although Chen had a few of the servants take it in around the hips because otherwise, it wouldn't have fit her.

Chen had a cup of coffee and was watching the scene below him unfold with an amused expression on his face. Clouse had gotten him a new dagger in hopes that it would please his master, and he knew that the dagger would be put to good use. Clouse had received a fancy beaded belt, with a snake buckle on the front, and he was eager to try it on.

The rest of the day went by slowly. There was a feast at noon, and later, there would probably be ham sandwiches for supper. Clouse caught Skylor shooting Chen a few hopeful glances, before running off to play in the garden.

All in all, it was a very productive Christmas.

Clouse was nearly positive that Chen had enjoyed this Christmas, and that night, he even gave Clouse two whole hours of his undivided attention.

A tiny part of Clouse panged with guilt when he thought of Skylor's letter, burned and buried in the jungle, but he brushed it off.

Chen's undivided attention had been exactly what Clouse had needed, and he was almost sure that nothing would come of Skylor's Christmas wish.

Absolutely nothing was going to happen. Everything was going to be fine, and besides, when the spell was completed and they ruled the continent, Skylor could have as much of Chen's attention as she wanted.

Just as the sun had fallen beneath the horizon, Chen got up from his desk.

"Goodnight, Clouse," He nodded to his second-in-command, and left the room.

"Goodnight, master," Clouse answered with a smile of satisfaction. He went back to his desk in the study and continued taking notes on his spellbook.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Clouse looked up from his notes. "Come in."

The door opened softly, and Skylor walked in looking up at him with a strangely angry expression on her face. She was holding a handful of what looked like dirt.

Clouse sighed. "Yes?"

"Did you burn my letter?" Skylor asked, holding out the handful of dirt, which Clouse realized was actually ashes.

Clouse rolled his eyes. "Skylor, I'm busy."

"Did you?" She insisted, taking a step towards him.

"Isn't it almost your bedtime!?" Clouse snapped at her, trying and failing to ignore her.

Skylor's shoulders slumped. "You did, didn't you."

Clouse went back to his notes and ignored her.

Skylor glared at him and stormed out of the office. Before she left, however, she turned around. "Dad's gonna be really mad at you when he finds out what you did to my letter!"

"Oh?" Clouse asked, pretending to be disinterested.

Skylor growled something under her breath and slammed the door so hard the entire room shook.

Clouse rolled his eyes. This was ridiculous. It was just a piece of paper, why in Ninjago was she so upset? It was really stupid. Besides, Clouse always deserved more of Chen's attention anyway. Skylor had her special training sessions. Did she really need more of Chen's attention?

_Of course not_. Clouse thought grumpily. _Besides, when we rule the continent, she can have all of Chen's attention that she wants._

_Right?_

**December 24th, 2015**

Kai had invited Skylor to go out and explore the city on her first year off the island.

It was the first time that she had been off the island for the holiday, and everything was so big and amazing and different and beautiful.

First of all, there was Ninjago City. It was decorated beautifully, with tinsel, evergreen wreaths, and even a massive, three-story-tall evergreen tree that had been set up in Ninjago's main square. Little markets had been put up, selling hot drinks or ornaments, or any other little trinkets. Lights crisscrossed streets, giving the normally neon city a warmer glow. Everything was much different than Skylor's childhood Christmas celebrations on the islands.

First of all, she learned that on the mainland, evergreens were more traditionally used than palm trees, secondly, she also learned that swimming was just a weird thing they did on the island since it was miserably hot at the time of Christmas.

Last, but certainly not least, Skylor learned that she and Kai had a lot more in common than she initially thought.

They both liked cinnamon hot chocolate, thought elves were creepy, and of course, enjoyed going out to experience the city in it's full Christmas glory.

Which is how they ended up in a deserted park at 22:00.

Skylor looked up into the gray overcast sky and realized that small flakey ash-like little particles of something falling from the sky.

She tilted her head in confusion. Sometimes, back on the island, when the volcano erupted, little flakes of ash would fall from the sky, and then Chen and Clouse wouldn't allow her to go outside, for fear that she would breathe it in and asphyxiate.

But this wasn't ash. It didn't smell smokey, was wet, and it appeared that Kai was trying to catch some on his tongue.

"Kai?" Skylor called.

"Yes?" He asked, turning around, the flakey stuff sticking and contrasting against his dark hair. "What is it?"

"What's this?" Skylor asked, moving her arms around, gesturing to the flakey not-ash stuff.

"It's snow," Kai explained. "I didn't think we'd get any this year."

"_This_ is snow?" Skylor exclaimed as another flake of it landed on her nose. She had heard of snow before but never imagined it like _this_. All cold and wet.

"Well, er, yeah," Kai answered with a shrug. He paused for a moment before his eyes lit up with realization. "Oh, right, tropical island. This is your first time seeing snow, isn't it?"

Skylor shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it is. We never got snow out there."

"Really?" Kai asked. "Did you have any evergreens? What did you do for Christmas?"

Skylor laughed. "We decorated a palm tree. And we had some pretty weird traditions, which can be attributed to the fact that it was a weird snake cult."

Kai laughed. "You attribute a lot of things to growing up in a weird snake cult."

Skylor punched him playfully. "You would too if you had grown up there!"

They both started laughing, and although Skylor felt happy, a tiny part of her twinged when she thought about the cult, about having to be back there, with her father, and with creepy Clouse. She squeezed her eyes shut and finally relaxed.

Chen was gone, the cult was gone, the family she'd known her entire life, and the home she'd grown up with were gone, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy Christmas now.

Here with Kai, with snow falling in their hair and the chilly night air blowing in her face, Skylor could barely believe it.

Barely.

**A/N: Well, that was Merry Christmas from Chen's island! I hope you enjoyed this collection of stories/oneshot! I know it's a little early to be posting a Christmas oneshot, but, well, Merry Christmas anyway!**


End file.
